Mobility reduces injury risk

Rest days are important for a few reasons – one of them being injury prevention. So often, we pick up niggles and strains from overworking certain areas, allowing tendons to become overly tight and failing to rebalance under-active muscles. Having days off can help reduce the load, while mobility actively prevents issues from happening in the first place.

Studies have shown that having a greater range of motion in your joints (mobility) can reduce your risk of injury. There’s also plenty of evidence to suggest that practising mobility can improve your posture – which again, reduces your risk of chronic back, neck and shoulder pain. In fact, one study found that good pelvic mobility may be linked to a healthy spinal posture while another concluded that hip immobility (attention, all you runners!) can affect the natural curvature of the lumbar spine.

In other words, if you find yourself hunching over while you run, it’s time to try some gentle hip-openers – like a kneeling hip hinge.

This 15 minute mobility workout will improve how you move in everyday life